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Anti-Redskins Momentum Keeps Building, Provokes Spectacular Backlash

ICTMN Staff

2/14/13

To keep or drop the name of the NFL franchise based in Washington, DC? That is the question.

The name -- "Redskins," considered the worst racial slur directed at American Indians -- is becoming a regular subject for Washington Post sportswriters and columnists, and raw meat for commenters at washingtonpost.com. The writers are in favor of scrapping the name; readers who take the time to comment on the story tend to be violently opposed to a change, bemoaning "political correctness" and liberal media bias.

It's sports. Fans -- short for fanatics -- are passionate by definition. And since it's sports, perhaps a few stats are in order:

That's a lot of reader comments. Suffice it to say, this is a debate that isn't going away any time soon. History and popular sentiment among non-Redskins fans -- hey, it's easy to advocate the change as long as it's not your team -- seem to be on the side of the columnists. Kevin Gover, director of the National Museum of the American Indian, said as much prior to a recent symposium on racist stereotypes in sports. "I have no doubt that in a decade or two, these mascots will all be gone," Gover told the Smithsonian Institute's blog. Several of the panelists at the February 7 event voiced a similar sentiment.

A recent story in the Washington Post is slightly discouraging to those advocating a name change: D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, who helped kick off this round of the debate with comments supporting a name change, is now "backing off" that stance. “The point I was trying to make at the time was . . . it’s sitting on federal land,” Gray said. “You know that issue will come up if that’s the proposal, to build the stadium there. That was the point I was making.”

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The original owners of this land deserve a lot more respect from us. Just associating them with Washington is an insult since it was the government in Washington that destroyed them. Pinning the words Washington and Redskins, is the greatest insult of all time. It would be more accurate to call them the Washington Victims.

I often use the word ''SKINS' in reference to Native American people. I am a Native, so for me it is not obscene, in any way. Would I want non natives referring to us as Redskins? No, I dont think so,..